Gutter attachment

Abstract

A properly formed long strip of aluminum or composite, the gutter attachment mounted longitudinally extending on the top front horizontal surface of gutter comprising of inward lip (30A) or extended inward lip leading into gutter, is contiguous to horizontal attached wall or top triple horizontal wall serving to incorporate a debris filtering screen or debris filtering cap and fastened or rest on the top front horizontal surface of gutter, the horizontal attached wall or top triple horizontal wall, is contiguous to elevated and forward oriented wall serving to stop the excess water from going over to the top front vertical surface of gutter. The elevated and forward oriented wall is contiguous to a front downward panel which does not touch the front visible wall of gutter. The front downward panel also serve to add piercings a hides gutter mounting nail head and rope light lighting.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

USPTO 61206079 Jan. 27, 2009

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not applicable

SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM

Not applicable

BACKGROUND

1. Field

This application relates to rain gutter attachments, specifically to improve gutter function and increase aesthetics of the gutter system.

2. Prior Art

Rain gutters on a house, in my opinion, serves two purposes.

The first purpose of a rain gutter is to gather the rainwater coming off a downward sloped roof and dispose of the rainwater through a downspout to prevent structural damage to the house and other associated problems.

The problem with the first purpose is that not only soiled rainwater flows down from the sloped roof and enters the rain gutter trough, but also, falling tree leaves, seedpods, pine needles, small branches, etc., these debris, often times, form a barrier inside the rain gutter trough or block the entrance to the downspout. This causes water to spill over the edge of the gutter trough and render it useless. The rain gutter trough, hereafter, simply known as gutter, needs to have either a debris filtering screen or debris filtering cap installed over the top opening of the gutter to prevent the debris from clogging the gutter in order to function as intended.

The second purpose of the gutter is to improve the finished look to the house by the color, cleanliness and general aesthetics of the gutter.

The problem with the second purpose is most house gutters are white. This color is much more susceptible to show soil. The soiled rainwater running down from the downward sloped roof and over the top of the debris filtering screen or debris filtering cap, by surface attraction to the said screen or cap, a small amount of this soiled rain water will go over the front visible wall and drip from the bottom surface of the gutter.

Without control to stop the unsightly dirty water, dirt streaks and stains will occur on these surfaces, once the water evaporates, leaving only the soil behind.

Another problem to the second purpose is the gutter attaching nail heads showing on the top front vertical surface of the gutter.

All previously mentioned problems are major negative issues to the function and aesthetics to the gutter system.

Attempts to improve the function and aesthetic for the gutter system have been many. Some have patents, such as U.S. Pat. No. 6,412,228—Meckstroth, Jul. 2, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,453—Hurst et al., Mar. 23, 2004, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,463,700—Davis, Oct. 15, 2002.

Both U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,412,228 and 6,708,453 use a solid cap over the top opening of the gutter with curved downward and inward outer front edge, leaving a small longitude opening leading into the gutter for the water to flow in, using the Coanda effect. The water will tend to follow the curved lower edge, because water is more fluidic than solid matter and, thus, enter the gutter. The dry and larger debris, not having the same surface attraction and being more rigid, is ejected over the front visible wall of the gutter.

However, when the debris media is wet and saturated, especially wet tree leaves, pine needles, seedpods, because of water saturation, now will have become pliable, and will most likely follow the water into the gutter's front opening leading into the gutter, eventually, the gutter will clog, defeating the first purpose of the gutter.

A different method to stop the debris from clogging the gutter, represented by U.S. Pat. No. 6,463,700—Davis, Oct. 15, 2002. This method generally consists of a polymer-extruded plate with several holes cut into the said plate, with a fine mesh made out of PVC coated fiberglass is ultrasonically or heat welded to the top surface of the polymer plate. This said plate and mesh covers the top opening of the gutter.

The problem is, not all the soiled laden water flowing down from the downward sloped roof and over the said constructed plate fell through the small mesh and holes into the gutter. Rather, some of the soiled laden water, due to surface attraction to the plate and mesh, adhered to the somewhat wide ribs around the holes and flowed right past the holes and mesh, over to the top front edge of the gutter, down the front visible wall of the gutter and to the bottom surface of the gutter. Finally, the soiled laden water evaporates leaving very unsightly dirt streaks and stains on the front visible wall and bottom surface of the gutter, defeating the second purpose of the gutter system, its cleanliness and aesthetics.

SUMMARY

The gutter attachment directly solves the aforementioned problems by incorporating a debris filtering screen or debris filtering cap into the design to prevent the debris from clogging the gutter, thus, avoid water spill over the edge of the gutter.

The gutter attachment having an elevated and front oriented wall which is high enough to stop the soiled laden water coming down from the sloped roof and over the said screen or cap from going over the front visible wall and to the bottom surface of the gutter which would leave unsightly stains once the water evaporate, but low enough for gusts of wind to remove the solid debris by blowing said debris over this said wall without touching the front visible wall of the gutter due to its forward orientation.

To further improve the aesthetic of the gutter system, the gutter attachment has a front downward panel which serves to hide gutter fastening nail head, add artistic piercing, lower edge piercing, serving to hang other ornament, curves to the lowest edge of the said panel and rope light type lighting, serving to accentuate the piercing and curves, especially during the dark hours of the day.

OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES

• • 1. Provides an effective manner to incorporate a debris filtering screen or debris filtering cap into the design.
  • 2. Provides an effective manner to stop the soiling effects to the front visible wall and bottom surface of the gutter.
  • 3. Provides an effective manner to hide the top front gutter fastening nail head.
  • 4. Provides an effective manner to add piercing, curves and lighting to the gutter.
  • 5. Provides an effective manner to add other ornaments to the gutter.

The design of the gutter attachment greatly improves the water control and aesthetic value of the gutter system.

DRAWINGS

Figures

FIG. 1 Depict a fragmentary front left perspective view from above showing the gutter attachment fastened longitudinally on the top front horizontal surface of the gutter along with attached debris filtering screen and debris filtering cap.

FIG. 2 Depict a fragmentary front left perspective view from below showing front downward panel with four samplings of pierced holes and the curved lowest edge of the said panel.

FIG. 3 Depict a cross sectional left side view and generally on line 3-3 of FIG. 1. The gutter attachment fastened to the top front horizontal surface of the gutter along with debris filtering screen, inward lip, horizontal attached wall, elevated and forward oriented wall, contiguous with the front downward panel. Also showing is the cross sectional end view of a rope light type lighting glued to the front top inward recessed curve of the gutter.

FIG. 4 Depict a partial and enlarged cross sectional left side view of FIG. 3, showing a slightly different gutter attachment but with the same embodiment shown in other views. The differences are the extended inward lip saddling the gutter's curved inward lip to hold the gutter attachment in place, instead of one of plurality of sheet metal screws holding the horizontal attached wall of the gutter attachment to the top front horizontal surface of the gutter. The second difference is the gutter's horizontal attached wall curves around the lower bottom edge of the debris filtering screen or debris filtering cap and on top of said debris filtering screen or debris filtering cap to sandwich the lower bottom edge of the said screen or cap, then double back to the regular elevated and forward oriented wall, forming a top triple horizontal wall for the gutter attachment. The third and fourth differences are the front downward panel hiding the gutter fastening nail head and finally the J shaped bracket, one of plurality, glued to the back of the front downward panel as a mean to hold the rope light type lighting in the back of the front downward panel.

FIG. 5 Depict an a partial and enlarged cross sectional left side view of FIG. 3 showing again a different method of attaching a rope light type lighting in back of the front downward panel, shown is a cross sectional view of one of plurality of cable clamps attached with sheet metal screws to the top front vertical surface of the gutter and the rope light type lighting fitted inside the cable clamp.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

• 10 gutter 30B horizontal attached wall
• 10A front visible wall 30C elevated and forward oriented wall
• 10B bottom surface of gutter 30D front downward panel
• 16 gutter fastening nail head 32 top front horizontal surface
• 20 overhanging drip edge 34 top front vertical surface
• 20A extended lip 36 rope light type lighting
• 20B vertical wall 38 “J” shaped bracket
• 20C lower lip 40 cable clamp
• 20D wider panel 42 front top inward recessed curve
• 22 downward sloped roof 44 sheet metal screw
• 24 debris filtering screen 50 top triple horizontal wall
• 25 debris filtering cap 52 extended inward lip
• 26 sheet metal screw 54 curved lowest edge
• 28 curved inward lip 56 piercing
• 30 gutter attachment 58 piercing
• 30A inward lip

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The gutter attachment (30), longitudinally, covers the length of gutter (10) by adding enough predetermined lengths of the overlapping gutter attachment units. Generally these are furnished in eight or ten foot length, and cut to fit.

Referring to FIG. 1, show a fragmentary front left prospective view from above of the gutter attachment 30, along with downward sloped roof 22, debris filtering screen 24 and debris filtering cap 25, fastened by sheet metal screw 26 to the top front horizontal surface 32 of gutter 10. This gutter attachment is made of thin 0.015 thick aluminum material but could be made with other suitable materials, which could be formed or extruded in the shown preferred embodiment. In this case I have used a commercially available overhanging drip edge 20, available from Amerimax Home Products Inc., model F5M, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3. By reversing extended lip 20A in the up direction of the shown near horizontal position and bent up over a half inch diameter round rod, the elevated and forward oriented wall 30C and the top beginning of front downward panel 30D is formed. Vertical wall 20B of the overhanging drip edge 20 serves as horizontal attached wall 30B. Lower lip 20C of overhanging drip edge 20 is bent 60 degrees in exact reverse to the existing shown bend and now becomes inward lip 30A. Wider panel 20D of overhanging drip edge 20 now becomes front downward panel 30D with an inward bend of approximately 45 degrees to the lower third part of the said panel 30D as depicted in FIG. 3 though FIG. 5. Essentially, overhanging drip edge 20 becomes gutter attachment 30 except in FIG. 4, the extra material needed to form top triple horizontal wall 50 and extended inward lip 52 would require a different method for manufacturing. The front downward panel 30D, as depicted in FIG. 2, has curved lowest edge 54, made by following a desired shaped template to guide a metal nibbler tool to achieve the curved lowest edge 54. Of course the desired said curve 54 could also be made by using different methods of cutting, such as water jet cutting, laser light cutting etc., these methods generally are controlled by a computer, which would make the cutting and design changes of the curved lowest edge 54, piercing 56 and 58 very efficient but more expensive at the onset of manufacturing. The sample piercing 56 and 58 are made by using commercially available punch from various sources. Piercing 58 on said panel 30D can be used to hang additional ornaments to the near lowest edge of gutter attachment 30. The samplings of piercing 56, represent only a fraction of piercing which could be inserted into front downward panel 30D, such as all the alphabetical letters, numerals, decorative designs, such as heart, star and cross etc., all not shown in FIG. 2 drawing. The piercing are only limited by one's imagination and size of the said panel 30D to be an effective way to improve the aesthetic of the gutter system. It is to be noted that FIG. 3, clearly depict the front downward panel 30D is contiguous to elevated forward oriented wall 30C, and that said panel 30D does not contact front visible wall 10A, but rather leaves enough space to incorporate and hide the gutter fastening nail head 16, mount a rope light type lighting 36 to the outside surface of front top inward recessed curve 42, inside the “J” shaped bracket 38 as depicted in FIG. 4, and inside cable clamp 40, which is attached to the top front vertical surface 34 by sheet metal screw 44 as depicted in FIG. 5.

Elevated and forward oriented wall 30C, as depicted in FIGS. 1 through 5, serves as a water barrier wall to stop the minor amount of soiled water, which by surface attraction to the downward oriented debris filtering screen 24 or debris filtering cap 25, would flow over the front visible wall 10A of gutter 10 and drips from the bottom surface of gutter 10B of gutter 10, causing unsightly dirt streaks and stains to the front visible wall 10A and dirt spots to the bottom surface of gutter 10B, once the minor amount of soiled water evaporate and leave only the soil behind. Elevated and forward oriented wall 30C is to be elevated approximately one quarter inch higher than horizontal attached wall 30B to facilitate easy removal of leaves and other light debris over the front edge of said wall 30C by wind gusts, but high enough to reverse the minor amount of soiled water flow coming off the downward oriented debris filtering screen 24 or debris filtering cap 25, and return the soiled water into the gutter 10. Horizontal attached wall 30B, is contiguous with elevated and forward oriented wall 30C and inward lip 30A and is used to rest or to be attached with debris filtering screen 24 or debris filtering cap 25 to top front horizontal surface 32 of gutter 10. Inward lip 30A is bent downward approximately thirty degrees oriented from attached horizontal wall 30B into the inside orientation of gutter 10 to guide the water back into gutter 10. In the case of FIG. 4, the inward lip 30A is extended to form extended inward lip 52 and forms a hook with curved inward lip 28 of the gutter 10 serving to hold the gutter attachment 30 to the top front horizontal surface 32 of gutter 10, instead of sheet metal screws 26 as seen in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5.

By now the function value of gutter attachment (30) should be clear and can be changed in form and shape while still retaining the preferred embodiment depicted by the written explanation and drawings.

Claims

1. A rain gutter for attachment to an edge of an associated roof of an associated building which includes:

an elongated trough that is substantially imperforate and has opposed inboard and outboard sides, the inboard side being dimensioned and configured for mounting proximate to the edge of the associated roof of the associated building, the outboard side being dimensioned and configured for mounting in spaced relation to the edge of the associated roof of the associated building; said inboard side having an edge that in normal installations on a building that is horizontal and at the uppermost part of said inboard wall;

a fascia extending vertically over substantially the entire vertical and axial extent of the outboard side of said gutter and extending vertically to an elevation that is higher than the edge of said inboard side in normal installations on a building.

2. A rain gutter as described in claim 1 wherein said fascia has a substantially planar surface that during normal installation is uppermost and disposed in oblique relation to a vertical plane, said substantially planar surface having during normal installation an upper edge that is further outboard than the lower extent thereof.

3. A rain gutter as described in claim 1 further including a perforate screen extending over said rain gutter intermediate said inboard wall and said outboard wall and said fascia is coupled to said perforate screen.

4. A rain gutter as described in claim 1 wherein said fascia covers mounting hardware such as the heads of nails or screws used normally to mount rain gutters to the associated roof of an associated building.

5. A rain gutter as described in claim 1 wherein said fascia includes support members for engaging an associated rope light.

6. A rain gutter as described in claim 1 wherein said fascia has a lower extremity that bends in an inboard direction.

7. A rain gutter as described in claim 1 wherein said fascia includes decorative piercings.

8. An attachment for an associated rain gutter for attachment to an edge of an associated roof of an associated building, the gutter being elongated, substantially imperforate and having opposed inboard and outboard sides, the inboard side being dimensioned and configured for mounting proximate to the edge of the associated roof of the associated building, the outboard side being dimensioned and configured for mounting in spaced relation to the edge of the associated roof of the associated building; the inboard side having an edge that in normal installations on a building that is horizontal and at the uppermost part of said inboard wall, wherein the attachment comprises:

a fascia extending vertically over substantially the entire vertical and axial extent of the outboard side of said gutter and extending vertically to an elevation that is higher than the edge of said inboard side in normal installations on a building.

9. An attachment for a rain gutter as described in claim 8 wherein said fascia has a substantially planar surface that during normal installation is uppermost and disposed in oblique relation to a vertical plane, said substantially planar surface having during normal installation an upper edge that is further outboard than the lower extent thereof.

10. An attachment for a rain gutter as described in claim 8 further including a perforate screen extending over the rain gutter intermediate said inboard wall and said outboard wall and said fascia is coupled to said perforate screen.

11. An attachment for a rain gutter as described in claim 8 wherein said fascia covers mounting hardware such as the heads of nails or screws used normally to mount rain gutters to the associated roof of an associated building.

12. An attachment for a rain gutter as described in claim 8 wherein said fascia includes support members for engaging an associated rope light.

13. An attachment for a rain gutter as described in claim 8 wherein said fascia has a lower extremity that bends in an inboard direction.

14. A rain gutter as described in claim 8 wherein said fascia includes decorative piercings.